Dresden 2006 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 2: Membranes: Conformations and Dynamics

AKB 2.2: Vortrag

Montag, 27. März 2006, 10:45–11:00, ZEU 260

Studying the Curvature Elasticity of Biomembranes Through Numerical Simulations — •VAGELIS HARMANDARIS and MARKUS DESERNO — Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany

Biological membranes have been extensively studied in the past using both experimental techniques and simulations [1]. The latter have the advantage of being able to relate the membrane properties with structure and composition at the molecular level. One of the main aspects that can be directly studied this way is the curvature elasticity of membranes. A well known way to do this is from the spectrum of equilibrium membrane fluctuations [2].

Here we propose an alternative methodology for studying the curvature elasticity of membranes. The basic idea is to impose a deformation of the membrane and measure the force required to hold it in the deformed state. We apply this method to a new solvent-free coarse-grained model proposed recently [3]. Specifically we stretch a cylindrical vesicle and measure the force needed for such an extension. Results are presented about the force acting on the stretching cylindrical vesicle, as well as about the bending modulus, and are compared with the predictions from the analysis of the spectrum of equilibrium membrane fluctuations.

∖Zitat{1}{Structure and Dynamics of Membranes, R. Lipowsky and E. Sackmann (Eds.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1995.} ∖Zitat{2}{U. Seifert, Adv. Phys. 46, 13 (1997).} ∖Zitat{3}{I.R. Cooke, K. Kremer and M. Deserno, Phys. Rev. E 72, 011506 (2005).}